EU-funded project „Support to Parliamentary Development in Lebanon“: Kick off Meeting in Beirut held on 2 June 2014

The EU-funded project „Support to Parliamentary Development in Lebanon“ led by IMG Consortium has formally started its implementation in Beirut on 2nd June 2014 through a Kick off Meeting held at the Lebanese Parliament.
The Consortium delegation was composed of Key experts Team and Delegation of IMG Consortium. The Key expert team consisted of Mr. Johannes Hommes (Team Leader), Mr. Rabih Majid Kays (Expert for Legislative and Oversight Development) and Mr. Martin Kavena (Expert for Research and Strategic Development). The Delegation of IMG Consortium consisted of:
• International Management Group (IMG): Mr. Eric Tonon, Head of IMG Brussels Mission-Project Director;
• French National Assembly (FNA): Ms. Francoise Meffre, Director of the Service for International Relations; Mr. Francois Duluc, Head of Division for Interparlamentary Cooperation; Ms. Emmanuelle Lavie, Administrator;
• French School of Public Administration (ENA): Mr. Emmanuel Vergne, Head of Department; Antoine Megarbane, Project Manager;
• TAS Europrojects: Mr. Nicolas Ferellec, Project Manager;
• Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG): Mr. Guy Abou Jaoude and Ms. Aline Matta, TAG Project Managers.
The meeting was Chaired by Member of Parliament Mr. Yassine Jaber, Representative of President Nabih Berry in the presence of the Chairman of the Administration and Justice Committee Deputy Mr. Robert Ghanem, the Chairman of Public Works, Transport, Energy and Water Committee Deputy Mr. Mohammad Kabbani, the Chairman of Budget and Finance Committee Deputy Mr. Ibrahim Kenaan as well as several representatives of the Parliament Administration, notably Mr. Adnan Daher, Secretary General of the Lebanese National Assembly and Mr. Rachid Samaha, Head of the Interparliamentary Relations Division.
The meeting was attended for the European Union Delegation by Mrs. Roula Abbas, Programme Manager and Ms. Liliane Dib, Financial and Contractual Manager.
The project aims at: improvement of quality of legislation and the legislative process; reinforcement of oversight by parliament; enhancement of the research and policy analysis capacity of the parliament and strenghtening of the institutional role of the parliament.
Additional working sessions took place on Tuesday 3 June and Wednesday 4 June in presence of the Consortium representatives with Mr. Ryad Ghannam, the General Director of Sessions and Committees and its staff as well as Mr. Samer Fawaz, the General Director of Studies and Information and its collaborators.
The project resident team headed by the Team Leader Mr. Johannes Hommes will then proceed its work on the inception phase with the inception report due on mid July.